


My promisse to you

by MylleC



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Comic-Con, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Irondad Bingo 2019, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, promisse, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-12 05:24:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19940920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MylleC/pseuds/MylleC
Summary: Tony Stark always keeps his promises and he definitely can't break one he made for Peter.





	My promisse to you

Tony took a long sip of his coffee that Friday morning, feeling the caffeine make its effect. He had finally slept that night after long three days that he had honestly barely seen pass, plunged into his work. Pepper had come to see him, but she knew she didn't have much to do when he was so engrossed in his business, she knew a lot of it was an attempt by Tony to escape the world, his worries, his traumas, because it was comforting to be just him and his technologies, that was how he handled things.

But this was a Friday, not any Friday, but October four, a day someone was looking forward to. Peter. The kid could only talk about it for weeks after a day that he had arrived downcast in the lab a year ago, Tony could almost hear the boy's voice telling him what the problem was, why he was so upset, it seemed like it had happened yesterday and Tony smiled as he remembered.

_"-Hey, Mr.Stark." Tony turned partially to look at the child as he fiddled with a few strands on his armor arm._

_"Hey kiddo, how did you spend the week?"_

_Hearing no answer Tony turned off his gear and removed his goggles, turning back to Peter, raising a questioning eyebrow. Peter was definitely not a quiet kid, he always comes to the lab talking more than Tony could often keep up with, he didn't expect questions to be asked of him, the boy just spilled his whole day, one event after another. . But all Peter did when the older man turned to him was to leave the pack on the floor and shrug, discouragingly walking to where Tony was._

_"It was normal." Peter just answered._

_"What's the matter, Pete?"_

_"It's nothing." The teenager insisted._

_"Yeah, and you acting like someone stole your ice cream, for nothing?"_

_Peter looked at Tony in a funny way, a gleam finally passing his eyes, something that comforted Tony._

_"Stolen my ice cream? What kind of expression is that, Mr.Stark?"_

_"Don't divert the subject." The kid sighed and, God, that was a bad sign._

_"It's nothing, it's bullshit, don't worry. What are we going to do today?"_

_"It's not bullshit when it's obviously making you so upset."_

_"Come on, Mr.Stark, it's no big deal, I promise. What are we going to do today?"_

_Tony wouldn't let go of this, that boy was never downhearted about anything around the lab and if it was really insignificant he would do his best to hide that something was wrong, the fact that he wasn't good at it proved that whatever it was, it was really making him upset._

_Tony put a hand on the kid's shoulder and squeezed softly and comfortingly._

_"You know you can tell me anything, don't you?"_

_Peter nodded, his eyes twinkling, but this time it was a different glow than before, were they glows of tears? Oh, now Tony was definitely worried._

_"Tell me what's wrong, I can help, please, underoos."_

_Peter sighed and nodded._

_"Hm, today is like comic con."_

_Tony took a minute to absorb the information. Realizing that this was not part of any of the problems he imagine._

_Problem with spiderman? Do not._

_Bruises? Do not._

_Problem with the school? Do not._

_Problem with May? Do not._

_Trouble with a girl? Do not._

_Comic Con._

_But Peter went on to explain the situation._

_"I just can never go, I mean I went once when I was seven, but not after that. So I would go last year, Ben told me he would take me, there would be great guest stars there, you know, and a lot of collector stuff and I was so anxious. But then... Ben died and I didn't want to go anymore, May didn't insist, or I don't think she even remembered ... And then a few months later they announced the dates for this year, but I just... I couldn't ask May, we don't have a lot of extra money since it's just the two of us now, and I need someone to go with me because I'm still fifteen, so I didn't ask, but I wanted to go, I wanted to go so badly,and Ned wanted to go too, but you know he won't go because he is a good friend. But we really wanted to go. I had saved some money last year to buy some of the comics to complete some of my collections and I haven't spent it all yet, and they would also launch these new legos, but ... "_

_Tony let the child talk without interrupting, realizing how upset Peter really was about that._

_"... anyway, I didn't want to bother May with the money for the tickets, but even if she had them, she couldn't accompany me, or even Ned's mom. And this is happening today, more than half of my school is there and that's all that they're going to talk about for days! "_

_He bit the inside of his cheeks nervously, looking expectantly at Tony._

_"I said it was silly." He shrugged again, though it was clear he was really caring about all that._

_Tony was surprised, Peter didn't come to him much with normal problems his age, like not being able to attend an event. Peter brought him trouble such as having nightmare where he was crushed by a building, or with knife injuries, bruises, the parachute of his suit having to being reinstalled, not with him being sad and frustrated that he couldn't go to a nerd event of his age._

_Tony couldn't fix much of the trouble Peter brought him. He could comfort him after a nightmare, but he couldn't make them stop. He could take him to Medbay to be sewn, but he'd already taken the stab in the first place. But that was one of the things he could do! He could re-install his parachute and he could make the boy go to the damn event he wanted to go with all his young heart. But then, Peter played the last card._

_"I know what you are going to say, Mr.Stark, but you can't bypass the whole credential queue of the event to get me in or whatever you can do, today is like the last day and it's already late, half the event has already happened."_

_Oh he really knew how Tony was always trying to fix the things that plagued him, and maybe that was why he had been so excited to say what the problem was, because he couldn't be fixed._

_Tony sighed, putting his mind to think, oh would he solve this or was he not Tony Stark. He would see a pathetic smile on the child's face as he walked through the doors of that event and did what he wanted with his best friend._

_"You underestimate me kiddo."_

_Peter looked at him curiously and Tony went to the cupboard drawers, turning the objects inside while searching for whatever it was._

_Peter considered asking what he was doing, but before he had the chance Tony pulled out a calendar for the next year._

_"Aha! I found it." He went back to Peter and pulled out a pen. "When is next one?"_

_"Mr.Stark, this is just next year and ..."_

_"When, Spiderling?"_

_"I don't know yet, like between October 1st and October 15th maybe."_

_Tony nodded, scrolling through the calendar pages through October and marking a large circle around every day from the first to the fifteenth. Then he went over to the blackboard they had at the back of the lab and propped the calendar against the far wall, pointing to the days and looking back at Peter._

_"Here, kid." Peter approached, a small smile already playing on his lips. "We're going to be the first to buy the blessed tickets when sales start, and you, me, and even your friend Ted are going to your geeky event, with everything you are entitled to, deal? And we go every day of the event, you will do so many things that you will have to have another Peter for not to get so tired. "_

_Peter bit his lip, tilting his head gently to the right side hesitantly, and Tony almost cursed thinking about the reason os this reaction._

_"I don't know, Mr.Stark, I can't ask you to ..."_

_"No, you didn't ask, I offered, it will be a gift. Let's have the entries for everyday, you'll complete your collections and start new ones and then complete them, meet any actor you wanted to meet, M &G and all , this will happen kid. "_

_There it was, what he was looking for, the big smile on his face, the excited, sincere sparkle in his chocolate eyes, and suddenly everything seemed right in the world again. He was happy._

_"Do you promise, Tony?" God, the question was so fuking childish that Tony could hold the boy in his arms and ruffle his hair. He couldn't say no to that._

_"It's a promise, kid."_

_Peter nodded, suddenly all the sadness completely draining from him, he could hardly wait for the next year!_

Tony opened the first drawer in front of him and took between his fingers the two credentials, his and Peter's, the cord was all personalized and really beautiful, had arrived in the mail for some time.

If he didn't leave now he would be late, he was supposed to go to Peter's apartment to pick him up and then at his friend's house, they would stop to buy a snack before going to the event and having fun. He was anxious, it would be a nice day, it was the day they had been waiting for so long and Peter teased Tony several times by saying how Tony was as anxious as he was, after all, Tony was never in one.

_It was the first thing Peter always do whenever he came into the lab, greeting Tony quickly and excitedly as he went to the table and grabbed a pen, rushed to the calendar, and made a huge X the corresponding day, indicating one less for - what they found it to be October 4th - the day of the event._

_"It will be so cool Mr.Stark! They will release this new Star Wars lego for the new movie coming out! And guess what! There will be a special manga session too! They will release the newest volume of Attack on Titan , I'm so anxious! You can't believe how the last one ended, I need to know what happens. "_

_And he kept chattering about how they would have news and how they would find hilarious the many Cosplays he would surely have from all the avengers, hardly knowing that the iron man himself would be there._

Tony took the pen, as he always did when it wasn't Peter's day to go to the lab, doing the task for him. Walking over to the calendar he crossed out the X, smiling contentedly. The day had come.

He pulled out his phone, pressing Peter's name just below Pepper's, noted for a moment that the last message had been his own, wishing the kid good night, then typed in the new one.

_"Hey Pete, I'm ready to go, I know you like Audi, who doesn't? Then I'll go with him. Let's have fun today, can't wait, see you later."_

He didn't wait for an answer, he was late! He stuffed the phone in his pocket and ran out of the lab, heading for the elevator to the garage to get his Audi, would go with the flashy car, but he was wearing discreet clothes that he hoped would be enough for as few people as possible to recognize him.

He was driving that day too, he wouldn't call Happy for that. Peter might try to disguise it, but he loved it when Tony drove and he sat beside him in the passenger seat, maybe the next time they saw him he would let the kid try to drive, he had been teaching him for a few weeks.

Tony parked in front of their favorite diner, he almost rolled his eyes at how Peter loved that greasy sandwich. The man came in and ordered the usual, a cheeseburger for him and two more for Peter with extra bacon, extra chips and a milkshake.

He felt awkward driving to the event, as if he was forgetting something, a familiar feeling of emptiness he had felt longer than he could remember. He checked his phone, a futile attempt to perhaps figure out what he had forgotten. There was a notification from Friday informing him that the meeting Tony had that morning had been rescheduled, he would not go to any meeting that day, he had promised the boy, nothing in the world would break his promise. There were no more messages and something inside him flipped with that realization.

He arrived at the event at nine forty-five, had already started, he had been late even though he tried to avoid it.

"Sorry Pete, I'm late." he said, going to one of the special entrances and showing his credential to the clerk at the door. His eyes flashed as he looked at Tony and promptly granted access.

Tony came in and _damn it_ , that was all the boy had promised and more. There were people everywhere, maybe not as much as they really should have, there were lots of flashy panels, newsstands, big screens, music, and people speaking into a microphone. It was the most urban sound Tony had heard in months. He started walking around, taking some pictures of something that caught his eye, no one had recognized him so far. He finally found the legos part, there was a huge and perfectly mounted in the doorway of a character Tony had no idea what it was. He went into space, picking up a basket and starting to stuff several sets of new legos into it, with lots and lots of pieces the boy liked, Star Wars and many other movies that Peter had made him do with him.

He paid and left the store, moving on. Tony went through each comic shop, he knew everything the boy liked, and stuffed in his basket every comic, the ones that were missing for his collection, new ones he thought he would like, even some of the avengers, he picked up posters and items from collector, paying and going to the next store, store after store, item after item, watching the cosplays around him remembering what Peter said to him.

There was one of Thor's absurdly funny, in much more exaggerated clothes than they really were, and not far away was a child of perhaps seven, carrying a fake hammer much larger than him, his clothes almost loose around him. Tony smiled, he smiled because Peter said it would be _fun_ , that he couldn't wait to see Tony completely out of his element there, doing something he never had before, having a fun day, that was supposed to be fun ... _with him._

His eyes landed on a red dot just in front of him, his back turned to him, Tony felt his hand shake slightly, holding the bags tightly between his fingers. He allowed himself to delude himself for a moment, deceiving his hazy brain. It was a boy in a _spiderman_ costume, taking pictures with some people, the group laughing and having fun, people inspecting his clothes.

_"Hey Mr.Stark, do you think there are going to be any Spiderman Cosplays?"_

Tony suddenly couldn't breathe. It was what it was, a cosplay. It wasn't Peter with his excited voice over the mask, talking to Karen for the thousandth time that he didn't want the "instant death" function he would not suddenly turn to Tony, widening his eyes and saying "Mr.Stark!" That wouldn't happen, because it wasn't Peter, because ... Oh God ...

_"Mr.Stark, I don't feel so good."_

He couldn't breathe, he couldn't. He had to get out of there, he could no longer be there, no more. His feet led him through the whole event, walking almost unconsciously out, blindly searching for his parked car, seeing the people passing by him, oblivious to his slight panic attack. He fell into the car, leaving the bags on the next seat, and resting his forehead on the steering wheel.

" _Are you alright."_

_"I don't know what's happening. I don't wanna go, Mr.Stark, please, please, I don't wanna go."_

He felt the warmth in his eyes, his heart felt like it was going to explode so hard it beat in his chest.

Tony took deep breaths, dealing with her crisis for a good fifteen minutes, feeling exhausted when she was gone. He started the car and drove off, driving automatically, following a path he'd done so many times.

The wind outside seemed even colder as they approached, the sky seemed grayer, as if the sun had no right to shine there. He took one of the items from the bag and got out of the car after parking anyway, not caring. His vision was still hazy as he traversed countless huge structures of cold marble, thousands upon thousands of names upon them until he came to the point. The letters P's and in the midst of thousands more thousands of names he found.

_"Peter Benjamin Parker"_

That was when the sob finally broke out of him, pained and audible. He tried, he tried to make that day as special as Peter deserved, he tried to keep his promise, but he wasn't as strong. He thought of how his heart ached when he knew what day it was, when he remembered the commitment he had made. How his hand shook as he scribbled the X on the calendar or how his stomach turned and his eyes burned with tears as he typed in the uselessly sent text message _"See you later."_ No, he would not see. He would never see Peter again, not today, not tomorrow, not the next day, not in a year, and still not coming next year. How could he know then? How would he know that just two months after making his promise to the kid he would turn dust between his fingers? That the child would hold on to him with such fear in his eyes as he begged to be saved? He could not know.

_"I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go ... I'm sorry."_

Tony cried some more, kneeling on the floor and placing his head in his hands, letting the tears fall.

"I'm sorry, kiddo, I'm sorry. I should have saved you, I should. I wish I could have done more, wish it were me instead, I would do anything to get you back, to spend that day with you because I promised you and it's not fair, it's not fair for me to break that promise with you, it's not fair. "

He then remembered the object in his hand and almost smiled, the kid would like that.

"I got it for you, I know you would talk about it for a week and when I saw it and couldn't help but buy it and guess what, he was at the avengers session, Peter, right in the corner, next to me .. "He avoided saying _"where you should be"_ because it hurt too much, it hurt to think about it. It was too much. He carefully placed the little toy on the floor in front of the huge stone. It was a small toy in a building where on top of it was a spider man in his superhero pose, looking out over his city. Protecting them.

Tony tried to keep his promise as best he could, but it still hurt, and he didn't know if he would ever stop feeling that pain tearing at him as he remembered when his _son_ was unceremoniously taken from him. He could make one last promise, one that he knew deep in his being that he would strive to fulfill as much as the one he tried to fulfill today.

"If I ever find a way, Pete, a solution to bring you back, you, your geeky friend and your hot aunt." He let out a watery laugh, imagining the grimace Peter made whenever he said this. "I'll do whatever it takes to bring you back, son. Whatever it takes. I promise."

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, I don't even know what to say. That was just something hovering in my mind and I had to write and I did, I really had no intention of posting, but hey, irondad and spiderson have to be shared. I hope you enjoyed it despite the pain. Ignore any typos, English is not my first language. Comment what you think, xoxo.


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